The county’s adoption of AOT is a victory for the law’s advocates — including some family members of people with serious mental illness — who had long pushed for more forceful intervention to help those who resist treatment before they reach a crisis point. But a local researcher, whose team interviewed AOT recipients in large-scale studies, is worried about the impact of more involuntary intervention, even if it takes place in the community. She is skeptical of the county’s contention that AOT can be implemented without leading to arrests of people with serious mental illness.
“It’s playing with words in a way,” said Nev Jones, an associate professor of social work at the University of Pittsburgh. Read more in Public Source.